SAT 3/20: Bach, Blast, Coffee, Punk, Plays, Rock

I know you're going outside. These are ideas for pre- and/or post-frolicking.

(Sunday stuff on the calendar.)

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SAT 3/20

10:30am to 8pm
"Bach 325th Birthday Celebration"
at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 15 Newbury St, Boston (Back Bay)
at First Lutheran Church, 299 Berkeley St, Boston (Back Bay)
FREE w/ RSVP

Okay. Bach's birthday was March 21 on the Julian calendar they used while he was alive; on our contemporary Gregorian calendar, the day would be March 31. Let's quibble about something that happened 325 years ago.

Two Back Bay churches are celebrating early with various free performances throughout the day. As one would guess, these church gigs are heavy on the organ music.

Reservations required for 2:30pm and 8pm events at Emmanuel Church. It may be full. You can call 617-536-3356, ext. 22 -- If you get the message, instructions are towards the end of a long message that tells you what info to leave on the voicemail...

SAT 3/20

11am to 11pm
BlastFest 3
at YMCA Theater, 820 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$5 - $10 (sliding scale) / All Ages

Feat: Apollo Sunshine, Tulsa, Boy Without God, Girlfriends, Concord Ballet Orchestra Players, Shai Erlichman, The Needy Visions, The Woodrow Wilsons, Ambitious Tugboat, James Lindsey, Wolf Woolf, Avi Jacob, The Meadowlarks, Duck That, The French Cops, Rene, Manners, Greg Mullen, The Great Valley, Debbie & The Bullets, Casey Rocheteau , Turtle Ambulance, more

See the post below for more info.

It'll be a good time.

SAT 3/20 (to SUN 3/21)

Various Times
NorthEast Regional Barista Competition
at Arts at The Armory, 191 Highland Ave, Somerville (Spring Hill)
FREE

Saturday -- 11:15pm to 5:30pm
Sunday -- 10:30pm to 1pm

I checked with someone associated with the event, and it's open to the public. It's a timed event that's also judged on taste, where four espressos, four cappuccinos and four espresso-based signature drinks need to be completed in 15 minutes.

The second 18 of 36 baristas from across the region compete today, and the 6 finalists battle to caffeinated death on Sunday.

There will be one espresso machine dedicated to making complimentary espressos, lattes, cappuccinos, americanos, etc for the spectators. Go if you're in the neighborhood, because you know it's going to smell great!

The winner goes on to the national championship next month in California where the US champ will be chosen for the international competition...

SAT 3/20 (and SUN 3/21)

Various Times
Boston Rules, OK 2010
at Middle East - Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$10 / 18+

I suspect that if you're going to attend (one of) these shows, you have already heard about it -- but I could be wrong.

With the number of bands playing over the next three days at this second annual punk rock festival, it's not likely that I would listen to all of them. There are good bands on every show and different flavors although it seems lie a lot of hardcore. For people that pay attention to the scene, note the reunions of The Vigilantes, Disorderly Conduct, and Guns Up.

The night shows are 18+, and the afternoon shows are "all ages" (like the Middle East's usual matinees).

SAT 3/20 -- 1:30pm

The Pinkerton Thugs, Tommy and the Terrors, Razors in the Night, Disorderly Conduct, Oi! the Band, Colin and The Cancer

SAT 3/20 -- 9pm

The Vigilantes, Jason Bennett and the Resistance, Tijuana Sweetheart, These Lies, Paul & The Strings, War of Words

SUN 3/21 -- 1:30pm

Guns Up!, For the Worse, Ashers, Watchfire, Word for Word

(Both of today's shows look really good.)

SAT 3/20

3:30pm to 6pm
"Tell Me a Beautiful Lie": Staged Reading
at Lily Pad, 1353 Cambridge St, Cambridge (Inman Sq)
FREE

Kudos to a guy who writes an original musical that takes place in the Crimea after the Russian Revolution. Of course, there's a woman involved with an absent revolutionary lover and a male friend in the counterrevolutionary forces. The music samples suggest some strong songs… This may be the first performance with "real actors and singers in front of a real audience."

SAT 3/20 (thru SAT 3/27)

7pm
"The Skin of Our Teeth"
at Club Oberon, 2 Arrow St, Cambridge (Harvard Sq)
$10 / $5 students, senior citizens

Supposedly audiences hated this Thornton Wilder play when it premiered in 1942. There's a lot of symbolism about the human condition that references the Bible and ancient Greece. What I'm saying is that you may be forced to think to enjoy the play…

Wouldn't you know it -- it seems like an A.R.T. collaboration with Moscow Art Theater School. Play is performed by the ART/MXAT Institute class.

"Doors and bar open at 6:30pm"

More performances on: SUN 3/21, THUR 3/25, FRI 3/26, SAT 3/27

SAT 3/20

7pm to 9pm
Michael Tarbox / Tarbox Ramblers
at Johnny D's, 17 Holland St, Somerville (Davis Sq)
$10

Michael Tarbox went Nashville to record his solo CD. The Ramblers join in for newer country-flavored and probably some of their rougher, bluesier Rambler tunes.

SAT 3/20

Triple Thick (Midnight), The Konks (11pm), The Coffin Lids (10pm), The Designer Drugs (9pm)
at Cantab Underground / Club Bohemia, 738 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$8

Remember the Abbey Lounge? This feels like one of those line-ups that would've been a classic Saturday night of garage/punk. Now it's closer to the T, downstairs, and the beer is not quite as cheap.

Since the Abbey closed, I still feel like The Konks don't gig as much but it's not like they care how popular they are. Their reverb-soaked, tribally rhythmic, jagged, punky goo is still one of the best sounds as far as I'm concerned.

Triple Thick kicks in a thick, fuzzy, brew of heavyweight garage-rock that barrels along but stays on track. Hey -- how many bands have a dedicated maracas/tambourine player these days? Triple Thick does!

I like The Coffin Lids incorporating a horror vein into their classic garage rock approach, and there is honesty, passion, and farfisa organ. It looks like the guys in The Designer Drugs wear more eyeliner than the female singer, but that's cool for these young glammy punks.

SAT 3/20

9:15pm
Twinemen & Guests
at Lizard Lounge/Cambridge Common, 1667 Mass Ave, Cambridge (between Harvard Sq & Porter Sq)
$10 /21+

It's difficult not to think of Morphine when Dana Colley is on the sax. Oh, and that's Billy Conway on drums; didn't they play together in…? Never mind… With Laurie Sargent on vocals and guitar, it sounds altogether new while often drawing comparisons to the band that brought these folks together. I really find it a refreshing twist on the sound since Sargent doesn't sound like Sandman a all.

I didn't find out who else was playing, but it'll probably be some of their talented friends.